I'm By Your Side
by BloodyMarii
Summary: Takes place after the anime, Sayaka wants to get Homura out to help clear her head, since Homura seems to be deeply distraught lately, so they go to a festival, where there's another guest.


I walk in an even pace towards the loud music and lights of the annual Mitakihara Festival. Since I had been in the hospital the previous summers, I had never been able to attend. A small gust of wind blows my long black hair and red ribbon. I place my hand on the neatly tied bow of the ribbon to ensure its safety. For the occasion, I decided to wear a red yukata, with flecks of gold and black present, my hair being pulled into a bun on the side of my head with the ribbon. The yukata complimented the red color of the ribbon, and I liked that.

I glanced around as I spotted Sayaka, who was also wearing a yukata, given hers was blue. The light blue and gold flowers worked well with her hair and eyes. She saw me and waved me over to her. I begin to approach her as I put a small and polite smile on my face. "Good Evening, Sayaka Miki." I say to her. She grins at me in a friendly way. "Hey Akemi. You're yukata looks nice." I become a bit shy, but hide it with my hardness. "As does yours." I state quietly. She nods and begins walking as if leading me to the entrance of the festival while I follow her lead. I begin to recall the events that lead up to this moment while we walk.

* * *

_A girl with a red ribbon stood alone in the bathroom in front of the sink hunched over and crying. Her sobbing fell on silent ears, besides one girl. A girl with blue hair entered the bathroom and was taken aback by the sight of her classmate, the one who was cold towards everyone, crying. Although recently Homura had been acting odd, Sayaka never thought she would actually find her crying. Homura quieted her cries almost instantly and quickly wiped her eyes before turning her cold gaze to Sayaka, who stood at the door and acted as nothing had happened. Even though it was obvious to both of them what they had just seen._

_Sayaka cleared her throat before hesitantly closing the door behind her, leaving both of them alone in the bathroom now. Homura looked unsure about this approach, for she had never been close with Sayaka. "U-Um.. Akemi..?" Sayaka asked, her voice echoing in the bathroom. Homura took a moment before responding, as if to make sure she wouldn't start crying if she tried to speak. "What is it, Sayaka Miki?" She asked coolly, although her heart was beating fast from embarrassment because she was caught crying._

_"You've been acting off recently.." Sayaka stated as she moved next to the girl at the sink. "Is everything okay?"_

_Homura looked surprised at the fact that Sayaka had noticed any change in her attitude, being the stoic girl she was. "You wouldn't understand."_

_Sayaka sighed and looked at her sincerely. "Even so, I can't just watch someone suffer like that. You're suffering aren't you..?" At this, Homura looked away, trying to pull herself together. She had seen Sayaka as the heroic type. In the past timelines, Sayaka always tried to save everyone, and that's an impossible task. Even in this new world, she tries to help everyone out. So maybe she hadn't had been so surprised when Sayaka approached her after all._

_"It's something that can't be helped." Homura said, before turning on the cold water to splash onto her face. She felt Sayaka's eyes on her while she let the water hit her face._

_"Well," Sayaka paused before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a ticket to Mitakihara's festival. "Maybe this can take your mind off things. I was going to take my roommate, but she failed the benchmark, so I'm making her stay home and study." She extended the ticket towards Homura, a small smile on her face._

_She must be talking about Kyoko Sakura, Homura thought. She slowly took the ticket from Sayaka and placed it in her pocket, still a bit shaken from Sayaka's non-hostile approach. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to go._

* * *

So she went.

Homura stopped next to Sayaka and pulled out her ticket from a small purse she had on. Sayaka gave her ticket to the person behind the entrance booth and waited for me on the other side. I handed him my ticket and followed after Sayaka. The festival was full of delicious smelling food, bright lights, and lots of people. Light and happy music filled the air around along with the sound of laughter.

"What do you want to do first?" Sayaka asked me while we stopped in the center of the festival. She looked at me as she awaited an answer.

"I have never attended a festival such as this. Whatever you want to do is fine with me." I stated. Her eyes widened in shock. "You've never been to the Mitakihara Festival?!" I shook my head no.

"I was in the hospital due to heart problems most of my life, so I never had the chance to attend." I said. She had a somewhat awkward expression on her face. "Ah, yeah. That's right. My bad." She replied before trying to lighten the mood again. "How about we try the ferris wheel? They're really cool!"

My eyes darted to the giant colored wheel, spinning slightly as it towered above everything else. I wasn't scared of heights, plus I've always wanted to ride one since I was a child. "Okay." She glanced at me as if noticing the excited tone in my voice.

We made our way to the ferris wheel while examining everything else on our way. Lots of food booths, apple bobbing, and little games. Personally, I wanted to play the shooting game. Sayaka seemed to acknowledge my interest in the game. "We can do that afterwards."

We arrived at our destination and waited in the short line. Surprisingly, people where interested in other things, so we didn't have to wait long. When we made it to the rides entrance the man stopped us.

"Only one person a seat." He said. I glanced up and saw everyone in one a seat. Perhaps this is why many people weren't interested. I shrugged as Sayaka let me on the ride. I took my seat as the manager of the ride closed the safety bar over my lap and rose me up. I only went up a bit before he stopped to let Sayaka aboard. After that he stopped letting people on and let the ride proceed.

The ride was slow but calming. When I made it to the top of the ride, I got a great view of the city, the lights shined against the river that ran through Mitakihara. I felt slight nostalgia at the sight of it as sadness began filling me. If only Madoka where here with me..

"Madoka.." I mumbled to myself while my chest begin to pain. I stopped tears from flowing, but I hurt deeply, a feeling I've been feeling so often lately.

Before long, the instructor began letting people off. I was almost about to be stopped at the top, so I quickly grabbed my small digital camera from my purse just as the ride moved up. I turned on the camera and snapped a picture of the city. The picture came out a little blurry though, because I snapped it just as the ride started moving again.

I sighed and shrugged and put the camera back in my purse. I arrived at the bottom and the man let me off. Sayaka was waiting for me as I stepped off. "How was it?" She asked me as we moved to the exit and begin walking toward the gun game. "It was really pretty.." I say.

We finish the walk in silence and arrive at the shooting range. The girl behind the counter is no other than Mami Tomoe. I don't find it surprising she'd be in charge of this stand. "Welcome! Would you like to try to shoot?" I nod to her as she hands me a fake gun. "You have six rounds, the goal is to hit the targets behind-" She's cut off as a little bullet hits her forehead. I smirk a bit. "Sorry, my finger slipped." Sayaka gives me a look of disapproval.

"That's.. alright." She says as she rubs the center of her forehead, a small red mark now present from where the bullet hit as she moves out of the way and doesn't bother explaining the rest of the rules. I begin quickly shooting each target in the center, hitting all I aim at in the exact center and set the gun down. "You're pretty good at that, huh?" Sayaka asks as Mami hands me a prize that resembles the witch Charlotte.

I nod. "Lots of practice." She gives me an odd look before checking her phone and sighs angrily. "God Kyoko. I can't leave her alone or she eats all our food and nearly burns the house down. I'm sorry Akemi, I have to go. It was nice hanging out, let's do it again sometime okay? Make sure not to put that ticket to waste." I watch her as she rushes off to a funnel cake stand and orders something before walling to the entrance.

"..." I stay silent as I begin to wander around alone. Children and couples walking past me. I spot a red bridge nearby than no one is on and begin walking there. The lanterns that float along the waters surface move slowly downstream while I sit at the edge. I take out my camera and snap a few pictures of the water and rest my head against the railing.

I begin to feel the feeling or deep despair again, realizing I'm all alone. I'm all alone in the world.. I have no one who understands this pain.. no one in the world.. but there is someone..

"Madoka..." I cry out quietly. Tears begin falling from my eyes and landing gently in the water. I'm the only one in the world that remembers her.. my best friend.. my only friend.. whom I love dearly..

I begin crying harder and clutch my chest to stop the feeling of myself being ripped apart from grief. If Madoka was here.. I'd be so happy.. no one remembers her.. she's the one that deserves to be remembered out of everyone... and no one remembers...

I love you Madoka..

I stand up after about thirty minutes of crying at the edge of the bridge and try to calm my breathing down. Ever since she disappeared from existence, I've been hurting so badly inside. Is that what it feels like to die inside..?

I sigh deeply and begin walking back towards the center and to a place that prints out pictures from digital cameras. I reach for the camera in my purse and plug it into the USB port on the machine and pause. "Twenty Four pictures..? I only recall taking four.." I mumble to myself, but shrug and print them out. After waiting for a few moments all of my pictures are done and I pack my camera back in my purse and grab the packet of pictures.

I exit the festival and open up the packet and begin looking at the pictures. The first four are the pictures I took. The rest..

My heart stops as I stare at the first picture out of twenty. Its a picture of Madoka and I walking in at the entrance of the festival together, hand in hand. She's wearing a pink and white yukata, but her hair is still long and pink, and her eyes yellow. I turn it over and check the date to see it as today's date.

I go to the next picture. Madoka and I handing our tickets to the entrance together. Her smiling at me with a bright smile. I begin checking the pictures quickly as I breathe heavily.

Madoka and I on the ferris wheel. Madoka and I walking around arm in arm. Madoka and I sharing a candy apple. Madoka and I bobbing for apples. Madoka and I winning a pet fish. Madoka and I playing the shooting game together. A picture of Madoka nudging me so my aim is directed at Mami's forehead. Madoka and I holding the stuffed Charlotte I won.

A blush comes to my face as I continue observing them.

Madoka and I riding tea cups together, going in a haunted house, holding me after we get out of the haunted house from being frightened. A picture from Madoka's point of view of me leading her to the bridge hand in hand. A picture of us with the fire works going off. A picture of us hugging with fireworks in the background.

I blush deeply at the next picture of us. A picture of Madoka and I kissing on the bridge, the candlelight illuminating us. At the bottom of the picture it says, "I love you, too!"

A picture of us walking out of the festival together. A picture of her kissing my cheek. And the last picture is a picture of me and her looking at the picture together. The picture glows due to an inscription on the back as it shines through a little. I turn it over and read it to myself.

_'If you ever feel alone, just remember I'm by your side! I love you Homura-chan. You're never alone. It's okay if no one else remembers me. You're the only one I truly want to remember me anyways. I'm by your side, forever and always, Madoka '_

My face is heated badly as I smile brightly, a few tears forming in my eyes. I glance up at the moon and see the silhouette of Madoka, waving at me. I giggle a bit and wave back as it disappears. I'm a little sad that it's gone as I put the pictures back in the packet as someone grabs my arm.

I glance up and quickly reach for the knife in my purse but stop myself as I see it's her. I look at her sadly and hug her tightly. She hugs me back and rubs my back as I bury my face in her yukata. "Don't feel so sad Homura-chan. I'm always with you. Right here." She says kindly as she moves her hand over my heart. I nod and move back so I can see her face. She gives me a warm smile and kisses my lips. I kiss her back deeply, taken aback slightly from her sudden action.

After a minute we break away. I pant slightly and look at her with a blush. "I love you, Madoka." I say. She smiles at me. "I love you too, Homura-chan." She says before kissing my forehead and disappearing. I slide the pictures in my purse and walk home happily.

The next day at school Sayaka approaches me. "Looks like the festival really helped after all." I meet her gaze and smile brightly at her. "Yes. Thank you Sayaka Miki." She nods and smiles before walking back to her desk to talk with Kyoko Sakura. I slide the picture of Madoka and I kissing out of my school bag and stare at it longingly. "I'm by your side." I hear her whisper in my ear. I nod and hold the picture to my chest. "I know, thank you."


End file.
